Named one of the best reference books of 2009 by the Library Journal, this single-volume encyclopedia presents succinct entries devoted to more than 700 subjects selected for their significant and lasting influence on American law. From Daniel Webster to Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and from James Madison to O.J. Simpson, editor Roger K. Newman's wide net encompasses individuals from colonial times to the present, within a wide spectrum of political ideologies, and representing a diverse array of racial, ethnic, and religious groups. Supreme Court justices, presidents, professors, journalists, criminals, philosophers, novelists, prosecutors, and others—the individuals in the volume are as diverse as the nation itself.